Hippodamia (wife of Pirithous)

Hippodamia (/ˌhɪpɒdəˈm.ə/;[1] Ancient Greek: Ἱπποδάμεια means 'she who masters horses' derived from ἵππος hippos "horse" and δαμάζειν damazein "to tame") was the daughter of Atrax[2] or Butes[3] or Adrastus[4] and the bride of King Pirithous of the Lapiths in Greek mythology.

Benna Smuglewicz Rape of Hippodamia

She was also known as Deidamia (/ˌddəˈm.ə/; Ancient Greek: Δηιδάμεια),[5] Laodamia /ˌl.ədəˈm.ə/,[6] Hippoboteia /ˌhɪpəbəˈt.ə/,[7] Dia /ˈd.ə/[8] or Ischomache /ɪˈskɒmək/[9]).

Mythology

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At their wedding, Hippodamia, the other female guests, and the young boys were almost abducted by the Centaurs. Pirithous and his friend Theseus led the Lapiths to victory over the Centaurs in a battle known as the Centauromachy.[3][10][11][12] She gave birth to Pirithous's son Polypoetes,[13] but died shortly afterwards.[14]

The abduction of Hippodamia was not an uncommon subject of Western art in the classical tradition, including the sculpture The Abduction of Hippodameia by French artist Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse and a painting by Rubens.

 
Hippodamia greeted by a seemingly genteel Centaur in a wall painting from Pompeii

Notes

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  1. ^ Walker, John (1830). A Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and Scripture Proper Names: To which are Added, Terminational Vocabularies of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Proper Names: with Observations on the Greek and Latin Accent and Quantity. J.F. Dove. pp. 9, 13, 66. Rule 30.
  2. ^ Ovid, Heroides, 17. 248
  3. ^ a b Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4. 70. 3
  4. ^ Hyginus. Fabulae, 33
  5. ^ Plutarch, Parallel lives: Theseus, 30. 3
  6. ^ In a vase painting: Archäologische Zeitung 29. 159
  7. ^ Scholia on Iliad, 1. 263
  8. ^ Scholia on Shield of Heracles, 187
  9. ^ Propertius, Elegies, 2. 2. 9
  10. ^ Homer, Odyssey, 11. 630
  11. ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 12. 224 ff
  12. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 5. 10. 8
  13. ^ Homer, Iliad, 2. 740
  14. ^ Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4. 63. 1

References

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